Paradox
by Someone the First
Summary: It's, well...a paradox... Strangeness warning... But hardly angsty! Oh! My first! :)


Author's Notes: _I have NO idea what was wrong with me when I wrote this. It scares me! LoL It's very, very strange… It's kinda paradox-y, which is why the title is Paradox, but it's my first almost-angst free Harry Potter fanfiction, so I had to post it. :) Please excuse my typos… I hope you like it, even if it IS strange and screwed-up… I own nothing. The character's are J.K. Rowling's, and the song is "Pinch Me" by the Barenaked Ladies (my theme song! whew! it's the reason this is soo strange, so blame THEM, not me!)_
    
    _ _
    
    Paradox
    
    _It's the perfect time of year_
    
    _Somewhere far away from here_
    
    _I feel fine enough, I guess_
    
    _Considering everything's a mess_

The snow was falling so heavily it might as well have been rain, and lacked the beauty most first-snowfalls possessed. Instead of aspiring and exciting, it held the weight of past events and dropped like blotches instead of shapes. The sky was metallic instead of fluffy, and the wind decided not to blow, adding more to the cake of sad feelings the outside world was fixing.

The fire in the hearth of the common room seemed only providing light rather than both that and warmth, and the air felt still and weighted, like the snow. Everyone was jumpy. One slight move out of the ordinary, one soft clamor, and everyone jumped and shot a glance over their shoulders. The chatter was quiet and hushed, everyone mourning recent losses.

Hermione Granger was one of these muted students, and she hunched low over her homework. Strands of hair fell limply over her sad, despondent eyes that kept blinking back at something in them. Her usually so articulate script sputtered haphazardly about her parchment. She swallowed loudly every few seconds.

Alone in her corner, surrounded by her books, lost in sad thoughts, Hermione felt separate from her classmates; though, in reality, their thoughts were one in the same: "What _happened_?"

Hermione's quill faltered, then stopped, and felt to the table with a soft clank.

Everyone in the common room jumped and looked over their shoulders.

She buried her face in her hands, staying this way for a few moments, trying to push dark thoughts from her mind.

In a way, she _was_ separate from everyone; she was probably grieving more than most. She'd known the object of so many tears closely; but he had somehow touched every Gryffindor's heart.

Hagrid had been killed a few days before, killed by Lord Voldemort, of course. It had been his closest kill to Harry since his parents' deaths, and it had been done, most likely, to dishearten those of fiery spirits and powers who stood in Voldemort's way. The plan, of course, had worked wonders. Harry, who was probably more hurt than Hermione, had left the common room about fifteen minutes before, muttering something about chocolate.

Ron—Hermione wasn't sure _where_ Ron was, but she expected he was in the kitchens, trying to smuggle food from the house elves; his way of mourning was to eat, eat, and eat.

No one else in that room could have come anywhere close to Hermione's range of pain, but, somehow, there was a slight feel of belonging within it. She felt excluded but _in_cluded at the same time. It was a weird feeling, and ultimately caused an out-of-body-experience.

"Taking a nap?" a familiar voice asked by her ear.

She jumped, jerking her head up. "Huh?" she said stupidly.

Ron afforded a slight smile. "Apparently so." He took a bite of his sandwich.

She decided not to question, as she was so far behind anyway, and took the moment to chastise him instead. "Don't _do_ that."

"O'course," he said through a mouthful.

She sighed and shoved some particularly limp clumps of hair out of her eyes, turning back to her homework. As soon as her face turned downward once more, the curtain of her hair fell over the side, shielding her face from Ron's view, so he couldn't speculate her mood. It was when a loud sniff emitted from inside that he became aware of the fact that his female friend was on the verge of tears.

"Hermione?" he said softly. He pushed away her hair, revealing a pale face and huge, watery eyes.

"What?" she snapped, pulling back from him.

"You crying?"

"_No_," she said just as peevishly.

Ron peered quizzically at her. "Maybe you shouldn't be doing—" he checked the book she had propped open, "—Arithmancy at a time like this."

"Why not?" she asked angrily, swiping at her nose, which was itchy and in need of a good blow.

"It's a time for mourning."

"What do you think I'm doing?" she demanded.

"Arithmancy?" he said with a weak smile.

She resolved not to answer, and turned back to her homework.

"Where's Harry?" asked Ron, eyes scanning over the room in search of his friend.

"I don't know."

"Are you mad at me?"

"I'm mad at Voldemort, not you," she told him snappishly.

He winced. "Not you too…" he groaned, burying his face in his arms, having finished his sandwich.

"Not me too what?" Her reply was muffled, as she was deep in her book in attempt to hide her teary eyes.

"It's _You-Know-Who_, not—not—" he stammered. He paused, and then restarted. "Not _that word_."

Hermione sighed, sitting up and closing her book. She fixed Ron with a penetrating stare. "It's _Voldemort_, Ron."

"Stop it…" He held up his hands defensively.

"VOLDEMORT, VOLDEMORT, VOLDEMORT!" Hermione shrieked.

A silence fell over the common room and everyone turned to stare at their corner.

"WHAT?!" barked Hermione.

Everyone continued to stare, though a few jumped and looked over their shoulders.

With a loud huff/sniff, Hermione jumped to her feet, ignoring the fact that her chair was now on the floor, and stormed angrily to the portrait hole. No one moved to stop her, as they considered her quite mad at this point, and she managed to get out of the common room without a single barrier. She felt the eyes follow her even as she slipped out.
    
    _It's like a dream you try to remember_
    
    _But it's gone_
    
    _Then you try to scream_
    
    _But it only comes out as a yawn_
    
    _When you try to see the world_
    
    _Beyond your front door_
    
    _Take your time, is the way I rhyme gonna make you smile_
    
    _When you realize that a guy my size might take a while_

_Just to try to figure out what all this is for_

The snowflakes felt just as heavy as they looked, Hermione soon found out. Upon leaving the common room, she'd left the school too, now taken to walking around the grounds listlessly, her only aim avoiding Hagrid's hut. This proved to be harder than she'd thought, as she soon found herself standing in front of it.

It was as it always had been, cozy and weary, inviting and sleepy, loving and old. It usually invoked warm feelings within her, welcoming and caring. But now, as she stood by the steps in the wet snow, flakes melting immediately at contact with her cloak, it made her insides freeze over, made her vision swirl with tears, made a lump form in her throat, a lump that just wouldn't dissolve.

She took a deep breath, released it, causing a huge cloud of steam to billow out and swirl around her face. It felt damp against her skin, mingling with a few stray tears that had somehow made their way out of the protective shield of her eyelids. It was funny, how, a few moments before she'd wanted to avoid this place; now all she wanted to do was enter it and curl up in Hagrid's bed.

She didn't go that far, she didn't enter it _or_ curl up in Hagrid's bed (the door was locked and she thought it inconsiderate to open it), but she didn't turn away either. Undaunted, she headed to the side of the house where she knew some benches perched.

Prepared to plop down upon one (they were all cleared of snow, as the roof stretched out a few inches beyond the walls, protecting the benches from snow and rain), she trudged through the thick snow towards them. But as she turned the corner, she saw she wasn't the only one who'd had that revelation.

A figure sat hunched over, wrapped tightly in a cloak. His face was almost entirely hidden, but his hair poked out, and after having known him for six years, she recognized him immediately.

She hesitated for only a second, but what to do was so obvious one couldn't even tell she faltered. She took the spot next to him, silent, and followed his hidden gaze off into the forest.

It was the type of silence that came from mutual feelings and thoughts, comfortable. But as the thoughts and feelings were negative, this quietness held a twinge of this and seemed as heavy as the snow.

"I can't believe he's gone," said Hermione croakily, breaking through the stillness. She glanced at him. "I just can't believe he's gone."

The figure beside her shifted, revealing his face and body shape. He looked at her for a moment. "I can," he said hoarsely. 

"Can what?" she asked.

His eyes stared intently into hers. "Believe he's dead. I can believe he's dead."

Hermione shook her head, turning back to the snow. "It just doesn't feel right."

"Just because it doesn't feel right doesn't me you don't believe it."

"You know what I mean," said Hermione snappishly. Why did he have to be annoying at a time like this?

"I don't know anything right now," Harry said softly, pulling his cloak tighter around him.

"Yet you still chastise me for what I said."

"I didn't chastise you. I pointed out a perfectly valid flaw."

"Right." Hermione sighed and shifted, tugging on her own cloak for warmth. The wind had decided to join in the snow, and instead of livening the wildness, it sparked some life within her. "Aren't you cold?"

"I'd be colder inside," he said simply, still looking away. His eyelids fell slowly shut. "This is the warmest place anywhere."

Hermione didn't argue; in fact, she agreed. She felt safer, cozier here than anywhere since Hagrid's death, and the previous feeling of isolation went away as she and Harry had joint senses of abandonment and depression.

They were both silent after that. They both just sat there, staring at the falling snow, but not really seeing it. Both their thoughts were on Hagrid. 

Hermione could just see him blundering around in his moleskin overcoat, shoveling snow off his front steps, Fang at his side. See him smiling warmly at her, Harry, and Ron as they came to visit him. She remembered when he'd been in love with Madam Maxime and had "dressed up," cologne and all.

As she thought of the previous years, all memories of them and Hagrid happily warm, a bitter thought crept into her mind and said, in Hagrid's slang, "No good sittin' worryin' abou' it. What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does."

Hermione's heart thumped slowly and precisely against her ribcage as she realized this; was this what was coming? Had…had he known?

"…An' we'll meet it when it does…"

She swallowed hard against that lump that was always there; the thing was, it seemed to be getting thicker now. So thick she could barely breath. It hurt. It made her eyes water so much tears formed and trickled down her cheeks. 

"Stupid lump," she breathed, gulping. She brushed savagely at the tears, but they just got more numerous, and soon two ceaseless streams were running down her pink cheeks. "Why?" she choked out, giving in entirely. "Why did _he_ have to die?"

She didn't expect an answer. At least, not the answer she received. It was so bizarre she could hardly believe it.

"Because of me," said Harry hoarsely. "He died because of me."

"What?" Hermione sniffled, looking to his face in surprise.

"He died because of me," he repeated. 

"Harry, don't talk nonsense—"

"It's _not_ nonsense. It's the _truth_." His head swiveled around so she stared into his glittering green eyes. "Voldemort can't kill me, so he'll torture me instead."

"What?" she said faintly. She mopped away some tears. "Harry—you know that's not—"

"It's me," he said slowly. His eyes were huge and blinding against his flushed cheeks. "It's _me_, Hermione. Blame me. I know you want to blame someone. Blame _me_."

"It's not you," sniffled Hermione nasally. "It's Voldemort, Harry. Not you."

"Hagrid's just the first, you realize that, right?" Harry continued. Hermione noticed his hands were shaking and kept wringing themselves out. "Next it'll be Ron, and you, and Dumbledore, and everyone I ever loved. Sirius. Lupin. Everyone. And you'll all die because of _me_."

"Because of _Voldemort_," Hermione hissed, still sobbing. "Not you. _Him_."

"Me," Harry repeated. "Me."

"_Voldemort_."

"Stop trying to make me feel better. It's me. I know it. I've accepted it. I don't need you to condone it."

"I'm _not_ condoning it! I don't believe it."

He buried his head in his shoulder. "You should."

"I _don't_."

He peeked over the black wool of his cloak at her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"For what?" Those tears were still coming. That stupid lump. "You didn't do anything."

"I'm sorry I made him die…" He reached out a trembling hand to touch her face. His fingers were like ice. "I'm sorry you're going to die too…" His shoulders shook. Was there a lump in his throat too? "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault!" Hermione insisted through her tears. "It _isn't_."

Yes, he must've had a lump in his throat. His eyes were starting to water now. Next would be the tears… "Maybe I should—I should turn myself in…"

"For _what_?" Hermione cried. She grabbed his hand; it was frozen. "What are you going to turn yourself in for?"

"For _you_," Harry whispered.

Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but then seemed to really contemplate what he'd said and closed it, looking inquiring.

Though his sadness was thick and heavy, embarrassment still found its way into him and Harry's ears turned pinker than they had been. "For _everyone I love_," he added quickly. Then he seemed to realize he'd dug himself deeper and decided to drop it as Hermione continued to stare. "If Voldemort has me, he'll leave you and everyone else alone."

Recovering her surprise, Hermione snorted. "Yeah. Right. Harry, if you let Voldemort kill you, then who's going to be there to kill Voldemort? No one. And if no one's there to kill Voldemort, then we all are as well as dead, without a doubt, as no one you—you _love_ would ever join and let rule someone who killed you!" His hand, that she still had clasped in her own, was thrown down as she released her disgust by throwing something; and his hand had been that something available. "You have the stupidest logic I have ever heard."

He stared at her with really round, green eyes glazed with tears for a moment; he looked like he was going to cry, and an icy hand pinched at Hermione's heart as guilt formed in her mind. She opened her mouth to apologize, but was cut off as he burst out laughing.

"You're right," said Harry, nodding. "I'm an idiot. That is a stupid plan."

"I know I'm right," Hermione snapped. But she was smiling.

The death of Hagrid loomed over them, forgotten for a moment, as Harry laughed at his own stupidity and Hermione smiled at her own intelligence. But the moment was broken when Hermione became aware of where she was, and then the tears came, streaming down her face, causing her to choke. Soon she was bawling outright. 

It was so abrupt, so sudden, one would have thought Harry would have been shocked, stupefied; maybe stared at her in wonderment. He wasn't, though, and he didn't; his laughter changed without ceasing into tears, and joined Hermione as the both of them finally allowed tears.
    
    _Pinch me, pinch me, cause I'm still asleep_
    
    _Please God tell me that I'm still asleep_

It took a while for that torrent of tears to end, and by the time it did, they were leaning on each other for support and the sky had gone from gray to black. A bitter wind blew, and the snowflakes grew and grew, no longer quite so heavy, more feathery, now.

"He didn't deserve it," Hermione sniffled, pulling her face off Harry's shoulder. The fabric of his cloak stuck to her tears, and she had to remove it. She knew she probably looked horrible, but there was nothing she could do about it; she didn't care, anyway. She rubbed at the tears, blinking around. "But there's nothing we can do about it," she added quickly, giving Harry a piercing look.

He, too, was rubbing at his tear-streaked face, looking surprised (Harry never cried; Hermione was surprised along with him), but when he saw the glance Hermione was bestowing upon him, he forced a weak, twisted smile. "I know, Hermione," he said softly, croakily. "I figured that out now."

She nodded. "Good…we'd better get back…" She glanced around the darkness, penetrated only by the white skeletons of the snowflakes. "People will start to wonder where we've gone off to. Pretty soon they'll send a search party...literally…all the—all the Dark Arts movements going on…" She trailed off as more tears pricked at her eyes.

Harry, seeing this, quickly agreed. He stood with her, and together they stepped out of the shelter of the roof hangover into the falling snow. Slowly they waded through the feet of snow to the front of the cottage, and without a word, they both stopped and watched it. It didn't move. No lights shone through the windows, no sign of life whatsoever.

It seemed dead, just like its owner.

"I just can't believe he's gone…" Hermione whispered. She felt choked up again. "It seems too surreal…"

Harry looked at her for a second. Hermione was his best friend, but he'd never considered her his _best_ friend. Ron had always seemed to drape over her, pushing her from the _best_ spot to the _second_ best. But…the truth was…that title wasn't true. The only reason one would look at Ron as the _best_ friend was because he and Harry had met first, and because he was a guy. The _truth_ was, though, that ever since Hermione had become his friend, she'd never stopped being his friend. She was _always_ there. And the moment they had just shared, crying over a loved one…that came nowhere near matching any moment he and Ron had _ever_ shared.

Right then, standing there in front of Hagrid's hut, Harry saw Hermione in a new light: his best friend. The funny thing was, while she was changing from second best to best, she was also changing from "one of the guys" to an actual _girl_.

Harry blinked.

_Why am I thinking about this right now?_ he wondered, shaking himself, looking away from Hermione to back at the hut. _Hagrid's dead. Hermione hardly matters at the moment. Her position in my life hardly matters. My…feelings for her hardly matter…_

But then he found himself looking back at her, watching her watch Hagrid's home with a type of reverence, and comparing her to Cho Chang.

_Cho's a lot prettier than she is_, a voice in his head piped in. _Perfect features… But Hermione is kind of cute…_

Another shake of his head. _Hagrid's dead_, reminded a voice in his head. _Hagrid…is…dead…_

And though this saddened him, it didn't jog him out of his train of thought and he continued staring at his best friend.

_Her hair's all messed up_, he mused. 

_Shut up_, he snapped.

_She's _Hermione_,_ said another part of him.

He blinked.
    
    _On an evening such as this_
    
    _It's hard to tell if I exist_
    
    _If I pack the car and leave this town_
    
    _You'll notice that I'm not around_
    
     

Hermione sniffled loudly, sighed, and turned her gaze away from the hut. _Staying here won't bring Hagrid back_, she thought wistfully. 

She found Harry staring at her. Not just looking at her. Downright staring at her.

It made her feel a little uneasy, and sad thoughts of Hagrid met up with the competition of suspicious thoughts of Harry.

"Er," she said. "You okay, Harry?"

He didn't answer; he kissed her instead.

"Oomph," she said.

_This was the weirdest, saddest day of my life_, Hermione thought as Harry pulled away.

He blinked at her.

She blinked back. "What just happened?" she asked in surprise, still sniffling over Hagrid.

"I have no idea," Harry whispered, still staring intently at her. "But I liked it."

She nodded. "So did I."

Harry smiled a tight smile. "Ready to go in, now?"

Hermione hesitated, but then assented, glancing once more at Hagrid's hut. "I can't believe he's gone…" she said softly.

"Me neither," Harry replied as they began to trudge back. "I can't believe I just kissed you, either."

"Me neither," Hermione said with a laugh. "I think we're both going crazy."

"Have to agree with you on that."

And as they both laughed, they both cried.

Weird mixture of emotions.

Weird consequences.
    
    _I could hide out under there_
    
    _I just made you say "underwear"_
    
    _I could leave but I'll just stay_

_All my stuff's here anyway_

_I cannot believe that when Hagrid dies, I fall in love with someone_, Harry thought as he and Hermione made their way back to Hogwarts. _Wait. Did I just think that? _He halted his thoughts. _Ha. Yeah. Right. Me? In love with Hermione? _

And at the same time he was thinking, _Hagrid's dead. Hagrid's dead_.

Tears filled his eyes, yet he smiled.

He stepped up to the entrance of Hogwarts and paused before entering. He glanced back at Hagrid's hut, not expecting a sign of life, but hoping for one.

It winked.

He started and stared harder. 

It remained lifeless and still, but he could have _sworn_ he saw it wink…

He shook his head and started into the building.

_Goodbye, Hagrid_, he thought.

_Hi, Hermione_, he replied.
    
    _Like a dream you try to remember_
    
    _But it's gone_
    
    _Then you try to scream_
    
    _But it only comes out as a yawn_
    
    _When you try to see the world_
    
    _Beyond your front door_
    
    _Take your time is the way I rhyme gonna make you smile_
    
    _When you realize that a guy my size might take a while_
    
    _Just to try to figure out what all this is for_

"I'll miss you, Hagrid," Hermione whispered later that night, staring out her dorm room window, down at Hagrid's hut, which remained lifeless and still. She blinked back tears. "I'll never forget you…" She took a breath, pressed her hand against the cool glass, and said, softly, finally, "Goodbye…"

One last moment, one last stare, one last hope as she studied the dark outline of his hut…
    
    "Goodbye?" she whispered again…

_Say something, say anything_, she pleaded of the hut.

And it did. It said something. Something she never would have expected it to say. Something she told herself was the result of her sudden insanity…something she locked away in the corner of her mind and refused to analyze at the moment, it scared her so much…

"Hi, Harry," it said.
    
    _Pinch me_
    
    _Try to figure out what all this is for_
    
    _Pinch me_
    
    _Try to see the world beyond your front door_
    
    _Pinch me_

_Try to figure out what all this is for_

**Warned you it was strange. ;) But strange as it is…I liked it. LoL What I think doesn't matter, though…it's what YOU think that does…so I'll plead of you…feedback? Please?**


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